Ski lift

ABSTRACT

AN APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING SKIERS SAFELY TO THE TOP OF A SKI SLOPE CHARACTERIZED BY SADDLE-TYPE SEATS WHICH ARE MOUNTED AND DE-MOUNTED BY SKIERS FROM THE REAR WHILE THE SEATS ARE MOVING AT A RELATIVELY FAST RATE IN COMPARISON TO CONVENTIONAL EQUIPMENT, THEREBY GREATLY INCREASING THE OVERAL SPEED AND CAPACITY OF THE LIFT WITHOUT DECREASING SAFETY. EXISTING CONVENTIONAL EQUIPMENT IS READILY CONVERTIBLE.

D. R. FENDER No v. 23, 1911 SKI LIFT Fiied Oct. 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR DAVID R. PENDER' Nov. 23, 1971 FENDER 3,621,789

' SKI LIFT Filed Oct. 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS United States Patent O 3,621,789 SKI LIFT David R. Pender, 1018 Marion St., Columbia, 8.43. 29201 Filed Oct. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 769,559 Int. Cl. B6111 11/00 U.S. Cl. 104-173 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for conveying skiers safely to the top of a ski slope characterized by saddle-type seats which are mounted and de-mounted by skiers from the rear while the seats are moving at a relatively fast rate in comparison to conventional equipment, thereby greatly increas ing the overall speed and capacity of the lift without decreasing safety. Existing conventional equipment is readily convertible.

A definite need exists, due to the increasing popularity of skiing, for more efiicient and faster ski lifts of greater capacity than conventional types. Also, safety must not be sacrified in attaining these ends. The sought-after ski lift must not be prohibitively expensive and ideally existing conventional lifts should be readily convertible to the more efiicient type at a minimum cost. These are the main objectives of the invention and the objectives are fully realized by the invention as will be readily apparent by an understanding of the following specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a ski lift embodying the invention and showing in particular the lower terminal of the lift where the skiers mount the saddle or straddle-type seats, while the latter are in motion.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view taken substantially on line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section with parts omitted taken on line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the upper terminal portion of the ski lift where the saddle-type chairs are demounted by skiers.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section through a chair guiding track,.taken on lines 7-7 of FIGS. 1 and 5.

FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view of a saddle-type seat unit for two skiers.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals designate like parts, the lower terminal of the ski lift at the bottom of the ski slope is shown primarily in FIGS. 1 and 2 and comprises a main rigid supporitng framework whose details may be varied considerably for individual installations. However, in all cases, the supporting framework 15 will serve to support the lower main drive wheel or sheave 16 which rotates in an elevated or horizontal plane on a vertical axis rotary shaft 17 held in suitable bearings 18 on the main framework. Below the wheel 16, a large gear 19 on shaft 17 is driven by a small gear 20 powered by a speed reducer 21, driven by a main drive motor 22, there being a support 23 for these latter elements on the main framework 15.

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A main endless drive cable 24 engages the drive wheel 16 to be driven thereby and extends up the ski slope 25 toward the top terminal of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5. At points along the slope, the endless cable 24 is supported by conventional srtuctures, not shown. At the upper terminal, another main supporting framework 26 is provided having cable guide wheels 27 at its entrance end to direct the main cable 24 into a horizontal attitude for passage around the upper main horizontal guide wheel 28, mounted on a vertical shaft 29 depending from a carriage 30 which is movable horizontally on support rail means 31 forming a portion of the main framework 26. A cable 32 connected with the carriage 30 extends to a heavy counterweight, not shown, which constantly applies the necessary tension to the main drive cable 24. This is a conventional feature. Furthermore, the construction thus far described involving the frameworks 15 and 26 and the main cable 24 and its horizontal wheels 16 and 28 and driving means is all generally conventional and of the broad type shown in US. Pats. 3,257,965 and 3,339,496, for examples.

Referring again to the lower terminal of the apparatus, a horizontal guide and stabilizing track 33 of channel configuration, FIG. 7, is rigidly supported outwardly of one side of the wheel 16 on frame extensions 34, as shown. The entrance mouth of this fixed track is flared as at 35 to facilitate the entry into the track of a guide Wheel 36 on each seat unit 37, to be described in full detail. The track 33 includes upper and lower opposed V-shaped rails 38 which engage each seat unit guide wheel 36 of like shape to prevent turning thereof or twisting with the seat unit around a vertical axis during passage through the track 33. The discharge end of the track 33 is disposed somewhat forwardly of the main framework 15 as at 39 substantially at the bottom of the ski slope 25. As will become more fully apparent, the track 33 completely stabilizes the moving seat units 37 in several directions at the critical period when the skiers are skiing into and mounting the saddle-type seats.

Each seat unit 37 comprises a main vertical suspension bar 40 having an offset extension 41 at its top, carrying a clamp device 42 of a conventional type which securely grips the main cable 24 so that the latter can convey the seat unit with security. The before-mentioned V-shaped guide wheel 36 of seat unit 37 is laterally offset by means of another arm 43 so that the guide wheel will be properly aligned with the fixed track 33. The arm 43 also extends horizontally forwardly of the suspension bar 40 for a considerable distance, as shown, so that the guide wheel 36 is mounted forwardly for stabilizing effect. This construction enables the guide wheel 36 to resist pendulumtype swinging of each seat unit back and forth longitudinally of the drive cable 24 while twisting or rotation about a vertical axis is resisted simultaneously because of the coaction of the guide wheel 36 and track rails 38, as previously explained.

Just in advance of the entrance to the track 33, lateral swaying or pendulum swinging of each seat unit is resisted by a pair of lead-in tracks 44 and 45 as particularly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. These track sections are fixed to the main frame structure considerably below the wheel 16 and also below the arm 43 and guide wheel 36. The guide track 44 is curved and therefore diverges from the straight lead-in track 45 at its rear end. Each seat unit upon passing around the wheel 16 has its suspension bar 40 entering between the two lead-in tracks 44 and 45 and therefore stabilize against lateral swaying so that the guide wheel 36 will smoothly enter the flared mouth 35 of horizontal fixed guide track 33 without interference. Preferably the tracks 44 and 45 extend to the downstream terminal 39 of the track 33 to provide lateral stability along the entire line where a skier could mount the seat 46.

Hence, the seat unit 37 is actually stabilized in three separate ways and cannot swing laterally, forwardly and rearwardly or twist around a vertical axis.

Each seat unit 37 further includes at its lower end preferably a pair of saddle-type seats 46 for skiers, mounted on L-shaped members 47, which depend from a transverse horizontal cross bar 48, the latter bar forming hand holds for the two skiers on the seats 46. The bar 48 suitably braced at 49 is secured at its center to a forwardly projecting horizontal extension 50 of the suspension bar 40, FIGS. 8 and 9. Each seat unit also has a foot rest bar 51 for each skier forwardly of and below the saddle seat 46 and suitably rigidly secured to the member 47. As will be discussed further, the skiers mount the seats 46 from the rear as the seats are moving along the track 33 in a stabilized manner and the skiers approach the seat units with proper timing from a suitable ski-in slope 52, FIG. 1, which can be constructed to meet the needs of the situation. The seats 46 of each unit 37 are spaced equidistantly on opposite sides of suspension bar 40 for symmetry and to equalize the weight on each unit 37 to the extent possible.

A further feature of each seat unit 37 resides in the provision thereon of a pair of shock absorbers 53, one for each skier. These shock absorbers are omitted from the drawing figures for simplicity of illustration except for FIGS. 8 and 9. The shock absorbers 53 are in the form of independent leaf springs 54 having their top ends attached to a cross piece 55, rigidly secured to suspension bar 40. The lower free ends of leaf springs 54 are connected to the bar 40 by strong flexible elements 56, such as nylon cords, which limit the ultimate deflection of the springs when they are engaged by skiers mounting the units 37. The leaf springs 54 having their vertical portions covered with sections of rubber or plastic tubing 57 to protect the hands and to even further cushion and absorb shock when the moving skiers mount the seats. The arrangement in effect provides a two stage shock absorber when the hand of the skier engages the tubing 57 and deflects the leaf spring. When the flexible element 56 becomes taut, the spring 5,4 will begin to bow in the middle giving a second stage of shock absorption. The suspension bar 40 will also bow to some extent aiding in absorbing shock, and also the cords 56 have some stretch and the tubing 57 is resilient so that maximum absorption of shock is attained when the skiers mount the saddle seats.

Referring again to FIG. 5, another fixed guide track 58 having the same cross sectional shape as the track 33 is securely supported as at 59 and 60 on the framework 26 at the top of ski slope 25. The flared inlet 61 of track 58 receives each guide wheel 36 in turn and immediately in advance of the inlet 61 a pair of spaced opposed infeed and stabilizing guide rails 62 are fixedly suspended from members 63 forming parts of main framework 26. The rails 62 function in the same manner as the rails 44 and 45 to stabilize and prevent lateral swinging of the vertical suspension bar 40 so that the wheel 36 will be properly aligned with the mouth of guide track 58.

The guide track 58 has an upwardly inclined section 64 downstream from its horizontal inlet portion, followed by an elevated horizontal section 65, in turn followed by a downwardly inclined section '66 leading to a short horizontal outlet section 67 at the same elevation as the inlet section of track and terminating just ahead of the main horizontal wheel 28 at the top of the ski lift apparatus.

As shown clearly in FIG. 5, the purpose of the inclined and elevated sections of guide track 58 is to automatically elevate or swing up each seat unit 38 from its normal depending condition to the point shown in FIG. when the skiers have reached the crest of the hill indicated at 68 in FIG. 5. As the skiers on the seats 46 remove their feet and skis from the foot rest 51 and place them on the ground, they merely assume a standing position while the seats 46 swing out from under them automatically with a forward and upward movement, due to the camming action of the track 58 on guide roller or wheel 36. A pivotal connection 69, FIG. 3, between the cable clamp 42 and suspension bar 40 allows this elevating of the seat units. Immediately before the units 37 begin traveling around the wheel 28, the guide track 58 returns them automatically to the vertical position where the guide wheel 36 engages horizontal outlet track section 67 and the skiers are now on the down slope 70. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated, the units 37 are all disposed vertically during their passage around both wheels 16 and 28 and the elevating and lowering of the seat units occurs only on the straight-away portion of the cable 24 at the crest of the hill and immediately in advance of upper terminal wheel 28.

In light of the foregoing description, there is little need to further describe the use or operation of the apparatus. As stated, the main objective is to handle more skiers at a faster rate without overcrowding and without lessening of safety, and all of this is accomplished by the invention. The skiers, individually or in pairs, ski down the prepared approach slope 52 and time themselves to approach the rear of a particular unit 37 moving with the cable 24 when such unit is being stabilized by the track 33 and before the next following unit would be sufiiciently far around the wheel 16 so as to interfere with the approach. The skiers, who may be moving quite rapidly, straddle the seats 46 while their feet are on the ground and strike the individual shock absorbers 53 with their hands. Referring to FIG. 8, the right hand skier would engage the right hand shock absorber with his left hand while the left hand skier would engage the left hand shock absorber with the right hand. If the skiers are of different heights, the hands will engage the tubes 57 at different elevations and the two independent shock absorbers will have the ability to compensate for this difference in size and usually in weight of the skiers simply because there will be a different bending moment arm applied to each spring 54.

Once the initial shock is absorbed and the skiers are seated, they will grasp the hand hold bar 48 and elevate their skis to foot rest bars 51 and they will be carried up hill in complete safety. The construction and stabilizing of the seat unit 37 is such that either two skiers or a single skier may approach each unit although a more balanced condition is naturally attained when two skiers use each unit. It is not essential and will almost never happen that each skier of a pair will strike the unit 37 at exactly the same instant and the apparatus is designed so that such accuracy is not required.

At the top of the lift, FIG. 5, as already described, the skiers simply stand at the crest of the hill as the seat unit 37 moves cleanly out from under them and the skiers are immediately ready for the down hill slope while the apparatus returns the empty unit 37 down hill to the wheel 16.

A chief virtue of the invention is that existing conventional equipment can be quickly and economically converted. All that is needed is to remove the conventional chairs from the cable 24 and replace them with the saddle seat units 37 properly spaced. Install the tracks 33 and 58 and associated infeed guides. Install a motor 22 of the proper capacity and/or change the gear ratio to give the necessary increase in speed of the main cable 24 to step up the capacity of the system. Also, the units 37 may be arranged somewhat closer together than in conventional equipment. Finally, the necessary approach slope 52 is constructed.

The invention lends itself naturally to certain modifications. Instead of the saddle seats 46 being arranged in pairs for each unit 37, a single seat unit may be provided with a single associated shock absorber. Also, the unit 37 may be formed so that two skiers can ride in tandem (motorcycle style) on one long saddle seat. In some cases, dismounting and/or mounting the lift may be accomplished on the down hill side. The previous description deals only with mounting and dismounting on the up hill side of the lift. The advantage of this is that a downward slope is desirable in getting on or off the lift, and downward slopes are obviously more available on the down hill side of existing ski lifts. Additionally, the invention can be adapted to summer tourist business by slowing down the cable speed so riders can simply walk up behind the saddle seats and sit down and later stand up and walk off at the top of the lift, as when sightseeing. In the more sophisticated installations, the apparatus may include guiding hand rails along the approach slope 52 followed by moving tow ropes, synchronized with the speed of the main cable 24', for the skiers to grasp and align themselves with the rear of the seats 46. Also dual exit stations may be provided at the top of the lift to eliminate bunching up of skiers at the crest of the hill. This would require dual tracks with different tipping-up locations and alternate seat units with guide wheels 36 set at different levels so each seat unit would engage its respective track for separate unloading locations. In some cases, these slightly more complex arrangements may be economically justified. However, the basic elements of the invention are clearly present in this application and the advantages of the invention over the prior art should be readily apparent without further description.

A further important adaptation of the invention resides in the possibility of utilizing three of the saddle type seats instead of a pair, as shown in the drawings. The triple seat arrangement would provide for better balance in carrying one, two or three skiers. A single skier would ride the center seat immediately below the main drive cable, whereas two skiers would ride the two outside seats. Any practical number of seats may be employed on one of the units 37.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A ski lift apparatus comprising main terminal wheels disposed substantially near the top and bottom of a ski slope, structural means supporting said wheels, power drive means connected with and driving at least one of said wheels, an endless conveyor element engaging said wheels and driven thereby, plural spaced saddle seat units suspended from the conveyor element and moving therewith and having saddle seats adapted to be mounted from behind by moving skiers and while the seat units are moving with the conveyor element, stabilizing guiding means for the seat units near the bottom of the ski slope and preventing lateral swaying, turning and longitudinal swinging of the units While they are being mounted by skiers, and means on the apparatus near the top of the ski slope engaging the seat units in succession and elevating each unit by swinging ti forwardly and upwardly relative to the skier as the skier assumes a standing position at the crest of the slope preparatory to skiing down hill, said means then automatically returning each seat unit to its normal generally vertical position below the conveyor element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the last-named means is a cam track on the supporting structure including level and inclined sections, each seat unit having a guide wheel projecting therefrom engageable within the cam track and each seat unit having a pivotal connection with the conveyor element.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said cam track has an inlet level section having a flared mouth followed by an upwardly inclined section, an elevated substantially level section, a downwardly inclined section and an outlet level section substantially at the elevation of the inlet track 6 section and terminating immediately ahead of the upper terminal wheel of the lift.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said stabilizing guiding means near the bottom of the ski slope includes a substantially rigid level section of guide track on said structural means, and a guide element on each saddle seat unit entering the guide track closely following the passage of the unit around the terminal wheel at the bottom of the ski slope.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the guide track includes a V-shaped guide rail and the guide element is a wheel having a V-shaped groove to engage said rail, and separate guide means engaging each seat unit ahead of said guide track to stabilize and position the unit so that said wheel will properly engage said rail.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said separate guide means extends substantially along the length of said guide track to prevent appreciable lateral swinging of each seat traveling along the guide track.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the separate guide means is a pair of closely spaced guide rails directly below the endless conveyor element, and said guide track is olfset laterally with respect to the conveyor element and said rails, a projecting guide element on each seat unit engaging the guide track, and a suspension member for each seat unit secured to the conveyor element and passing be tween said rails.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each seat unit includes plural laterally spaced saddle seats near its lower end and hand grip and foot rest means associated with the seats.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, and shock absorbers on each seat unit to be engaged by the hands of skiers mounting the saddle seats on skis from the rear of the units, and an approach slope for skiers upstream from the point of mounting the saddle seat units enabling the skiers to move onto the seats while traveling at a somewhat greater speed than the seat units and conveyor element.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said shock absorbers comprise generally vertical leaf spring shock absorbers on each seat unit arranged in laterally spaced relation.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each leaf spring shock absorber has one end anchored and its opposite end connected With a flexible limiting means to limit deflection of the leaf spring under impact.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wheerin each seat unit comprises a normally vertical suspension bar and clamp means for securing the top of the suspension bar to the conveyor element pivotally, a forwardly projecting guide element on the suspension bar near its upper end, at least one saddle seat on the lower end of the susension bar to be straddled and sat upon by skiers approaching from behind the moving seat unit, and said stabilizing guiding means and second-named means including fixed guide tracks engaging said forwardly projecting guide element of each seat unit in succession moving with the conveyor element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,582,201 1/1952 Huntington l04173 2,624,289 1/1953 Pomagalski 104-173 3,461,813 8/1969 McIlvaine l04-l73 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner R. SAIFER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

